Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

Since unveiling the plan last autumn, Bangemann has struggled to muster enthusiasm for his proposals to bring order to the chaotic mishmash of agreements on issues such as copyright, standards and Internet governance, currently administered separately by bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Initial reaction from the other side of the Atlantic was lukewarm, but as the Commission prepares for an industry conference later this year to add flesh to the bones of the charter proposal, the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) and electronics giant Digital Corp say they are beginning to warm to the plan.

Keith Chapple, chairman of Amcham’s EU committee and marketing director of semi-conductor giant Intel, insists industry’s cooperation is key to the success of the charter.

He argues that it should be given a chance to participate in a process which would flag up key issues and direct them towards relevant international bodies such as the WTO and WIPO “on a case-by-case basis”. Chapple says industry should lead this process to counter its “very limited” participation in these bodies.

The Commission wants the meeting with industry to discuss the charter proposal to take place before the end of this year, followed by a government-level conference between the end of 1998 and the spring of 1999.

But Chapple is urging the Commission to avoid organising a round of new conferences to debate the plan. In a letter to Bangemann, he points out that the information society conference to be held by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Ottawa this summer and the Transatlantic Business Dialogue forum already offer opportunities to discuss the charter.

Meanwhile, Bob Rarog, Digital Corp’s science and technology lobbyist in Washington DC, said the Bangemann plan could help to boost international cooperation on vital electronic commerce issues where differences between governments often existed,such as on encryption and data protection policy.

“We have been over the Bangemann paper and we think that he has hit upon some important concepts that need to be vetted,” he said.

“We will have to see whether or not the charter improves coherence when the rubber hits the road, but our attitude is that the more vision there is the better.”